How many touches does it REALLY take to convert a lead?

That’s simple… practically nothing without proper long term engaging followup with lots of “touches”

“How many touches does it really take to convert a lead?”

First, let’s define “touchpoint.” To me, a touchpoint refers to a voicemail, email, text message, social media message direct mail piece or a live conversation. I don’t consider interactions through social media likes or a call with no voicemail to be touchpoints since there’s little or no proof that these interactions happened.

With that being said I know most people would answer my initial question of “How many touches does it really take to convert a lead?” with the answer of 7

Well..

The Rule of Seven goes back to a day when the salesperson was in control, when buyers did little to no research before talking to agents, and when marketing was simply a string of pitches. You deliver that pitch a minimum number of times, the theory says, and buyers will be powerless to resist.

It’s time to wake up.. People don’t communicate, socially engage or buy like they used to. Consumers are immune to traditional and old school advertising and marketing strategies these days. They conduct more independent research and take more convincing before they’re “sold.”

That’s why the buyer’s journey may differ from one prospect to the next; they’re not all listening to the same radio spots, reading the same blogs, or watching the same videos to learn about you and your company.

They’re not even being exposed to the same information about your brand from the same sources. Some may have discovered your company online, while others learned of your products or services through a referral and some are from an online lead you purchased who know nothing about you.

Some may read online reviews before engaging with you or your team or filling out an online request for more information. They will visit your website, read your blog, and evaluate your competition before wanting to engage with you.

People want to know about you, they want to know about your product or service and your company before choosing to work with you.

I want you to ponder this thought for a minute…

We live in a world where your online reputation can be your strongest asset or your biggest liability.

Did you know that
· 91% of online adults use search engines to find information on the web.
· 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations
· Positive reviews make 73% of consumers trust a local business more
· 49% of consumers need at least a four-star rating before they choose to use a business
· Consumers read an average of 7 reviews before trusting a business

A lot of information is needed to qualify a lead as “sales-ready”

The problem I see in real estate is that Leads are expected to be at the decision-making stage in the buying journey as soon at they come in… well they aren’t so why do we not market to them appropriately knowing this.

A fact we know is that a qualified or “sales-ready” lead is more likely to convert to a buyer.

But we generally don’t take the time to get them to become qualified, and we misuse our resources in doing so.

Your sales team doesn’t have the time to spend nurturing leads who aren’t yet ready to make a buying decision, nor are they typically equipped with the resources and assets with which to do so.
There are dozens of statistics that show time and time again that when the leads passed to sales are qualified, they are far more likely to convert.

According to SiriusDecisions, 67 percent of the buying cycle is now conducted online, regardless of sales involvement. That means almost three-fourths of the buying process could be over before you have even “touched” the prospect in any meaningful way.

So with leads you have “purchased” online, you are not giving them the ability to conduct their research. And them getting bombarded with a metric ton of phone calls from multiple different agents right off the bat doesn’t help. How do you stand out?

So in my opinion, “”How many touches does it really take to convert a lead?” is No Longer a Valid Question. Whether it takes 7 touches or 70. I recommend in order to create a qualified or “sales-ready” lead to focus on these two things:

1. Creating online presence where people can read about you, your product and company. Providing them with great content to engage and how you can help them solve the problem they are dealing with.

2. Nurture and Engage them in a consistent long-term stream of relevant communication. Multiple different types of online and offline communication that nurtures, cultivates, educates, and maintains brand awareness – until that prospect is ready to buy.

If timing, brand message, offer, and the buyers needs align, it’s a process that can yield success in an instant. Or it could take months. But it has nothing to do with the number of touches. 40% of prospects convert to clients with long term follow up.

So focus on the two things I recommended, get yourself out there, make it easy for people to find you and set up some great long term nurturing and engaging campaigns and you will see a drastic difference over time in the conversation rate of your leads into listings or buyers.